Eight/KAET's 49 year history is marked by important milestones for the station and Arizona. It is a legacy we are proud of. Below are some special moments in our broadcast history. We invite you to review our story and get to know your Arizona PBS station.

1980-1989

1980
Charles R. Allen, most recently V.P. of Programming and Production at KCET/Los Angeles, returns to KAET as Program Manager. An ASU graduate, he was involved as a student with the then-fledgling KAET.

December 3: KAET's Prescott translator signs on at Mount Francis.

December 30: KAET's Mingus Mountain translator signs on.

1981
KAET marks its 20th anniversary.

April: KAET reaches Flagstaff with translator on Mt. Elden.

September 10 & 11: Leo Buscaglia appeared at ASU's Gammage Auditorium and Sundome, where over 8,000 Friends heard him speak. Presented by KAET, the event was taped for future broadcast.

August:
KAET's ITFS went on the air with one full-time channel, to be expanded to two channels by January of 1993.

1983
February 23: "The Operation," live heart surgery from St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center performed by Dr. Ted Diethrich. Produced live, the program was seen in U.S., Canada, and during the inaugural week of BBC's morning show.

April 13-17: ASU Public Events and KAET presented Sesame Street Live at the ASU Activity Center.

May: ASU Cable, after two years of development, is now broadcasting 12 hours per day of ASU courses on some, but not all, valley cable systems.

September: KAET introduces more than 60 instructional video courses through the Arizona School Television Project (ASTP, which later becomes ASSET, Arizona School Services Through Technology). Initially 25 schools in 14 school districts participate in the project.

September 28: Ray Charles appeared at the pavilion at Rawhide, for a concert "A Man and His Soul" for Friends of Channel 8.

KAET receives an International Film and Television Festival of New York award.

1984
January 8: KAET hosted a black tie "Dinner with Julia (Child)" at the Wrigley Mansion, for Century Club members and community leaders. Portions of the event were televised live.

February 29: KAET's PBS special, Seasons of a Navajo premieres.

April: new 270 ft. tower and antenna are constructed in South Mountain Park. The old 97-footer is kept for standby.

May 1: ASSET (Arizona School Services through Educational Technology) is incorporated .

October 5: the first Walter Cronkite Award luncheon takes place at the Arizona Biltmore. Taped coverage is broadcast on KAET.

1985
April 24: KAET receives Ohio State Award for the "Total Artificial Heart: The Technology," the issues for support of excellence and educational, informational, and public affairs broadcasting.

October 14: "Space Probe Eight" debuts as longest-running mini series within HORIZON (7-to-8 months). Live shots from Kitt Peak using one-watt microwave unit.

1986
January 4: KAET's Silver Celebration Evening at the Tempe Mission Palms with special guest BBC's James Burke (PBS "Connections") and a performance of The Music Man at ASU's Gammage Auditorium.

February 22 & 23: the seventh annual - and last - Channel 8 Great Fair at Fountain Hills draws 125,000 people to the two day event. All events were televised live.
Televised coverage of the first "AIDS and the Law" symposium from the ASU College of Law. Six hours.
June 14: KAET awarded two regional Emmy's for "That Cunning Little Vixen."

September: KAET/KTAR/Tribune and Behavior Research create the first rolling-track political poll in Arizona. Earl DeBerge, Director.

1993
March 23: Michael Grant, ASU alumnus, attorney, and founding host of KAET's HORIZON is honored by with the ASU Distinguished Alumni Award.

April 27: KBAQ-FM takes to the air.

March 5: ASSET conducts first National Teacher Training Institute at ASU's Memorial Union via a grant from WNET/Texaco.

June, 1993, KAET's new "satellite row" and dish collection is given the seal of approval by the Vertex Corp.

KAET wins CINE Golden Eagle award for Thieves of Time.

1994
January 13: KAET and KUAT, on behalf of ASSET, are selected for the PBS "Mathline Project" for middle schools along with 19 other stations or state networks.

February 1: Violence in Our Communities. Public Forum with U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno held January 15 at South Mountain H.S. featuring Senator Dennis DeConcini and U.S. Attorney for Arizona Janet Napolitano, discuss solutions to problems of gangs, drugs and crime. A co-production of KAET-TV and South Mountain H.S. Communication Arts Department.

February 17: The Stadium Hearing. KAET broadcasts the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors public hearing and vote on whether to levy a quarter cent sales tax to finance the constuction of a baseball stadium. Held at the auditorium of the Phoenix Prepatory Academy.

May: Charles R. Allen, General Manager receives the Distinguished Service Award from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunication.

June: KAET gets top PBS honors for its community outreach activities and for informational station breaks for children.

August: Arizona Republic Editorial Board Candidate Interviews are televised for the first time by KAET.

1996
February 27: First Arizona Presidential Preference Forum. KAET coordinated the live broadcast from Gammage Auditorium. HORIZON's Michael Grant was the moderator. Local commercial TV stations provided equipment and staffing. The event and the concurrent KAET Poll garnered national publicity and another Governors' Award Emmy for KAET.

1999
Local programs:
Savor the Southwest, a 13-part cooking series, was the most ambitious project KAET had ever undertaken. Local cooking teacher and authority Barbar Fenzl serves as host..
Arizona Memories from the '50s premieres.
Mary Jane Colter: House Made of Dawn, a film by independent producer Karen Bartlett, became part of the Arizona Collection. With KAET as the presenting station, PBS accepted it for national distribution.

The Goldwater Lecture Series, a KAET production based on the 1999 Goldwater Lectures presented by the Arizona Historical Foundation.

Wild Arizona premieres.

HORIZON aired a special 3-part exposé with phone in, The Telephone Con Game, in conjunction with AARP and law enforcement agencies. Also ASU Research Review; ASU Search for the New; Arizona Teacher of the Year.

KAET is overwhelmed by the response to our outreach component to Bill Moyers On Our Own Terms series about end-of-life issues. During the live, half-hour follow up program from our studio, we invited viewers to call for a free information packet. We answered 50,000 calls and had nearly 10,000 requests for packets.

10th Anniversary of the KAET Poll

The KAET Poll was launched in May 1990. Produced in conjunction with the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunication, it is an accurate and timely gauge of Arizonans' opinions on current issues.

As part of the planning for Arizona Memories from the'60s, a request for memories, photos, home movies, etc. was posted on theWeb site in January and included in KAET magazine in the March magazine. Received more than 150 responses, which became the basis for the program. Twelve respondents were featured in the program.
Images of Arizona, a new KAET production funded by Salt River Project and the KAET Program Partners, with support from Arizona Highways magazine, premiered during March membership drive.

April 17: KAET Goes Digital!
KAET launches digital signals KAET-DT 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3. The digital conversion required five years of planning and fundraising. It took more than a year to install the new DTV transmitter and tower on South Mountain. We had to fortify the tower to hold a new 14,000 pound, 60' digital antenna and doubled the size of the building we share with Channel 12. We tripled the capacity of our electrical systems to accommodate the new million-watt transmitter, added 20 tons of air conditioning. It took a 400-foot crane to add the digital antenna, which required a platform of earth to support it - we had to truck 4,000 tons of special soil up the mountain for that purpose. Later, we removed it and returned the site to its original condition. Maneuvering the new antenna into place took weeks of aerial acrobatics.
After trouble-shooting the new equipment, KAET-DT was on the air. KAET was the first station in Arizona to multicast - broadcast multiple programs at the same time on different channels. We also were now able to broadcast programs with startling clarity and sound using high definition television - HDTV.

Enhanced HORIZON Web site was launched with new graphics, daily program topics, transcripts, links to sites related to program topics. Also invited visitors to pose questions they wanted asked.

Awards: Two Copper Quill Awards (IABC) for Election 2000 Web Site and On Our Own Terms Outreach Project. Best of the West Award to Election 2000 Web Site.

2002
DirecTV and Echostar added KAET to its lineup of local channels.
Mystery! began filming Tony Hillerman's Skinwalkers, the series' first American mystery, on location near Superior AZ. Robert Redford's company producing. KAET was commissioned to produce "The Making of Skinwalkers" which will air at the end of the broadcast.
Arizona Memories from the '60s, produced by Don Hopfer, premiered March 4 with great results.
Construction began on new seven-story mediated classroom building on site of open parking lot adjacent to Stauffer Hall. This required moving and/or replacing the microwave antenna and all our satellite dishes. Project expected to take 18-24 months.

March 19: KAET broadcast "Live from Mars" in conjunction with ASSET to elementary and middle school students in classrooms across the country via the Mars Student Imaging Project, part of the Mars Odyssey Project at ASU. Students at the MSIP facility and remote locations linked via the broadcast were able to interact with NASA researchers.

Awards: Six Emmys -- three for Images of Arizona, three for HORIZON; CINE Gold Eagle Award for Images of Arizona; Copper Quill from IABC/Phoenix Chapter for Images Web site; Golden Web Award for Images Web site from Internat'l Assoc. of Web Masters & Designers; eight Associated Press Broadcasters Assoc. awards to HORIZON; Best of the West Journalism Award to HORIZON.

KAET promoted local outreach component for And Thou Shalt Honor, national program about caregiving that aired October 9 & 13. Program featured three Arizona families. Partnership with Area Agency on Aging, Region 1 to distribute two books, Elder Resources Guide and Caring for Loved Ones, free to persons who call AAA or visit the KAET Web site. Good audience ratings, positive response by viewers. Issue of caregiving subject of Horizon segment with Mesa family featured in the program and ASU Research Review segment with Dr. Bill Arnold, who was an advisor to the program. Generated outstanding press coverage.

Mystery! Produced first-ever American story, Skinwalkers, based on Tony Hillerman bestseller. Filmed this spring near Superior, AZ by Robert Redford's production company. Steiger Bros. shot behind-the-scenes footage for KAET, Making Skinwalkers, to air immediately following the program. National premiere broadcast Sunday, Nov. 24 in HD.

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The American Public University: Setting a New Agenda, a forum hosted by Dr. Crow and moderated by Rob Melnick, Director of ASU Morrison Institute, Thursday, Nov. 7, broadcast at 7 p.m. from the KAET studio. Attended by distinguished academics, university presidents and provosts from universities across the country.

Chuck Allen retired at the end of December after 22 years at KAET. National search for his replacement was begun.

2003
Gov. Janet Napolitano agrees to be a regular guest on the program - "First Thursday" of every month, beginning in February.

KAET officially became a Ready To Learn station, providing free workshops throughout the Arizona community where adults, parents, educators and caregivers learn how to use television as a positive tool to introduce skills and ideas important to learning.

Fred Rogers, who enriched our lives for three decades, died in March. He was eulogized and mourned nationally for providing a place where children could feel accepted and understood. Through Mister Rogers' Neighborhood programs, he will continue to do so.

Greg Giczi named KAET General Manager in February. He comes to KAET from WNDU-TV and Radio, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana.

The KBAQ Production Studio marked its 10th anniversary in April.
KAET partnered with OneBookAZ and the Arizona Book Festival to promote the 2003 selection, "Plainsong." Author Kent Haruf was the featured guest on a special edition of Books & Co. KAET had a booth at the Book Festival with Clifford and Cookie Monster costume characters on hand.

Awards: HORIZON wins nine Associated Press awards, four Telly awards (one each Silver for: Kolb Bros. program and Kolb Bros. Web site, one each Bronze for AZ Memories from the '60s and the HORIZON Web site. Also, an Emmy for the Arizona Collection tune-in spot and Cine Gold Eagle awards for Kolb Brothers: Grand Canyon Pioneers and Arizona Memories from the '60s.

In June, Trac Media Research ranked KAET the number one public television station in the country. We consistently rank in the top five.

After a summer of pilot episodes and guest hosts, HORIZONTE had its official premiere on September 18. Part of the HORIZON family, the 30-minute program will air Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. and provide a forum for local and national issues viewed through a Hispanic lens. Phoenix attorney José Cárdenas was selected to host the program, which will be based on the HORIZON format.

Ready to Learn first year results: Conducted 52 workshops, reached 7,081 children and 675 adults, and distributed 3,600 free children's books and more than 10,000 copies of PBS Families/PBS para la familia parenting guides. One-third of the workshops were presented in Spanish, and the materials provided were also in Spanish.
2004

ASU Creative Writing Dept. agreed to partner with us to produce three new episodes of Books & Co. in 2004.

KAET co-sponsors OneBookAZ again in April 2004. This year's book is Life of Pi by Yann Martel. Author will appear on Horizon and KAET will produce Books & Co. with Martel. KAET will have double booth at Arizona Book Festival.

KAET approved partnership with Area Agency on Aging, Region 1, Alzheimer's Association Desert Southwest Chapter and MetLife Foundation in community outreach project for national program The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer's, which airs in January.

Commission on Presidential Debates announced that the last of three debates will be held at ASU's Gammage Auditorium in October.

2004
Monumental Arizona premiered in March as flagship of March membership drive.

Ready To Learn reported reaching 13,500 children to date.

Roper Poll shows Americans choose PBS the most trusted national institution in the country and the best use of tax dollars (second only to military defense). They also believe PBS gets "too little" government funding and support for public television stations is "money well spent."

Summer season of Mystery! premieres Tony Hillerman's A Thief of Time.

HORIZON specials in July included Drought: A Tale of Two Cities in cooperation with KLVX/Las Vegas and Fires of 2004.

Kathy Zatz was honored for 30 years of service at the Annual Volunteer Friends Appreciation banquet.

May: KAET airs Native Visions, a one-hour special bringing together heads of state, policy makers, community leaders, government officials and healers for a look at educational and healthcare issues faced by Arizona's Native Americans.

KAET airs From Mars to China. Our camera and crew accompanied ASU planetary geologist Dr. Phil Christensen and his Mars research team to Beijing during China's Science and Technology Week.

In July, Channel 8 partnered with the ASU Art Museum for a Family Fun Day themed "Fur, Feathers and Family, Our Relationship with Animals."

August: Broadcast premiere of Arizona Lodges, The High Country.

September: KAET and Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art host preview screening of Art 21, third season of PBS series Art in the 21st Century.

A new KBAQ initiative, Encounters with Young Musicians, a program that brings talented high school musicians into schools. It also gives the young musicians an opportunity to perform and hone their skills.

February: Thanks to the generosity of ASU alumnus John Ridgway, an award-winning broadcast designer, an exciting new Eight logo design was implemented to brand all of the station's on air, online and print materials.
I is for International continued the success of the KAET Cooks series of in-studio pledge cooking events.

April: Arizona Stories premieres with nine episodes highlighting the people, places and events that shaped our state's history.
The finals of the Arizona Spelling Bee were held in our studios and taped for broadcast. Behind the scenes activities were filmed by Susan Soto and student Adam Draper for use on the Eight Web site.
Eight brought Bob the Builder to the Arizona Book Festival April 1. Once again, the station was a media partner for the event and had a strong presence there.

May: Horizon presented a special three-part series on AIDS, focusing on activities and programs in Arizona.
Cheryl Goldstein, a 30-year Eight volunteer, was honored at the annual Volunteer Appreciation Banquet at the Arizona Historical Society.

July: The Barry M. Goldwater Lecture Series, presented by Eight and the Arizona Historical Foundation, brought viewers an extraordinary seven-part series featuring a who's who of Arizona's legal intellectuals, including Sandra Day O'Connor.
As part of the Vote 2006 election coverage, Horizon presented the 2006 Clean Elections Commission Primary Election Debates for Superintendent of Public Instruction, Secretary of State and Governor.

August: The Marketing Department arranged to acquire the rights for The Best of Stars on Ice, which airs during August pledge and was distributed by Eight to PBS stations around the country.
Eight Box Office offered tickets to upcoming concerts featuring Blue Man Group, Stars on Ice, Andre Rieu and Cook Dixon and Young.
Eight partnered with the Area Agency on Aging for Operation Heat Rescue, coordinating the delivery of more than 100 air conditioner units to seniors in need.
E is for Entertaining, the newest program in the Eight Cooks pledge series, aired in August. This is a steady revenue producer for the station.

September: Horizon Vote 2006 kicked into gear again with a series of programs and specials providing viewers with information about the initiatives and referendums they will be voting on in November. An interactive Web site featured continuously updated information and links to additional resources.
For the first time, the Membership Department hosted a reception for 75 members who have supported the station for 30 years or more. Attendees received a commemorative certificate acknowledging this milestone.

October: Horizon celebrated its 25th anniversary with a special featuring guests and counting down the top eight stories from the past 25 years.

November: Buzz, Eight's newest production, introduced viewers to some of the talented artists who are part of the emerging Valley arts scene. This was a prototype for a weekly series that would include a TV show, an interactive Web site and educational materials to help teachers meet Arizona's new arts standards. It was made possible in part by support from MPAZ, Maricopa Partnership for Arts and Culture.

November: The second annual Corks & Canvas fundraiser was a moveable feast with wine, live music and food as attendees visited Scottsdale art galleries.

December: The internationally acclaimed Phoenix Bach Choir appeared in the Eight studios for a special broadcast of holiday music.

2007
January: After more than 25 years, Michael Grant stepped down from the Horizon anchor chair. His last day as host was January 26.
Eight partnered with the Arizona Educational Foundation to recognize exceptionally skilled teachers in grades K-12. The Arizona Teacher of the Year 2007 was Marana High School (Tucson) ninth-grade teacher Kristin Bourguet.
Margaret Morgan retired as Manager of KBAQ.

February: Digital Eight Create was launched, broadcasting cooking, home, lifestyle and travel programs. Arizona viewers find Create programming on 8.2 on their digital receiver.
Yuma residents can now receive Eight over the air on Channel 19 since with negotiated a position on a local television tower to transmit our analog signal. Viewers can still watch us on their local cable system but now our signal can be received with an antenna.
Antiques Roadshow made a stop in Tucson last summer resulting in a three part series that aired in February.

March: Under Arizona, the newest addition to the Arizona Collection, premiered this month during pledge.
P is for Pasta continued the successful Eight Cooks pledge series. Rick Steves made a highly successful appearance in the studio hosting his Best of Italy programs. Premiums included tickets to his October seminar in the Valley, which also becomes part of the Eight Box Office program.
ASU officially broke ground for the future home of Eight and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.
Arizona Spelling Bee 2007 was taped in the Eight studios on March 31 to air on April 28. Susan Soto arranged for student reporters from local schools to help create a Web component for the program.
Michael Grant was inducted into Silver Circle by Rocky Mountain Chapter of National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. (Previous Eight honorees include Joe Manning, Chuck Allen, Bob Ellis, Beth Vershure and Don Hopfer)

April: Eight partnered with the Arizona Book Festival and OneBookAZ again with an appearance by Curious George.
Books & Co. kicked off its 10th season with an encore broadcast of this year's OneBook selection, Going Back to Bisbee by Richard Shelton.
Eight hosts "Big, Big" event for kids at Heritage Park Zoo in Prescott as part of PBS"
It's a Big, Big World preschool science program.
Grady Gammage was the host and many community leaders were among more than 300 people gathered at the Phoenix Convention Center for a fun-filled roast to honor Michael Grant for his 25 years of service to Horizon and Eight.
For the fourth year in a row, a GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media Poll reveals that Americans consider PBS the nation's most trusted institution among nationally known organizations. And PBS tied with military defense as the number one value for tax dollars.

August: Out of Left Field: The Making of the Chinese Olympic Baseball Team, an independent production presented by Eight, distributed to PBS stations.

August-September: PBS coverage of political conventions and presidential debates.

Eight receives 14 Emmy nominations.

September: Eight receives four Emmy awards — Arizona Stories won in three categories: historic/cultural program, magazine program and editing. In the New Media-Interactivity category, Eight won for its customized video player featured on its azpbs.org Web site — and a Telly Award for Arizona Stories.

October 20: Administration, business office and marketing and development staff moved to the new downtown facility.

Eight became one of only 20 PBS Stations to participate in the PBS Kids' Raising Readers initiative. ASSET will coordinate this program throughout Arizona. Kickoff was an event on Oct. 25 at Wesley Bolin Plaza, with a proclamation from Gov. Napolitano. More than a dozen organizations participated with booths and activities. More than 300 kids and family members interacted with Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Robby Hammock, PBS' Mr. Steve, Miffy (Miffy & Friends), Wonder Red (Super Why!), Martha (Martha Speaks).

December: Pledge results fell somewhat short of goal.

Reminders about Feb. 17 DTV conversion continue in force on air, in Eight Magazine, on the Web and E-communications.

2009
Jan. 9: Special training session for all employees to prepare for phone calls following the Feb. 17 switch from analog to digital. All staff members and some volunteers will man the phone banks for three days – Feb. 18, 19 and 20, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Jan. 27: Because of anticipated cuts in the state budget for the remainder of the fiscal year, ASU announced mandatory furloughs for all university employees, including those at Eight/KAET.

Feb. 5: DTV Transition Extension: President Obama signed a bill extending the deadline for converting from analog to digital broadcasting from Feb. 17 to June 12, 2009.

March: Virgil Renzulli announced that Kelly McCullough had been promoted to general manager of Eight. He had been interim GM for six months.

KAET transition to digital is midnight April 29.

December: On Sunday, Dec. 13 television signal at Stauffer location is turned off and moved to new location at ASU downtown Phoenix campus.